Saturday with Grace

Since Grace could not make it to Lon's party we wanted them to spend some time together. This was the Saturday it fit into both our schedules!  We planned a lovely day. A picnic at the park, then back to our house for dinner.  It was the nicest day! The weather was wonderful! I think we added minutes to our summer. So far, not yet including this weekend the greater Seattle area has had 78 minutes of summer weather. That is minutes at 80 degrees or above. 

Walking to the picnic area. We went to Luther Burbank Park. Usually, not so crowded. Sunday, very crowded.  There was a company picnic there too!

There was a beach! A beach! Water, sand. We made the kids wait till after they had something to eat before they played in the sand.

playing well with everyone

Science experiments

In the water.

Back to the sand

On the dock.

Back up to the park. Slides!

Going through the building and the tunnels together

This is where we were.

Since it was still so nice when we got back to our backyard, the sprinkler appeared! They had a good time in the sprinkler

Then the hammock and back and forth between the sprinkler and hammock

Time to take a break for something to eat.  Lon had a treat of a real chocolate croissant. It was wonderful. Meagan brought me one too! SO nice!  It was a good day! Hope the weather holds !

Day Trippin'

On Friday, July 22, Lon and I decided we would get out of town for the day. We did not get a chance to play on the Peter Iredale! We needed to fix that.  This was our first free Friday.  We got up when Daddy woke up, and were on the road at 5:30am-ish.  The roads were almost empty all the way down and we got to Astoria at around 9:20! We made great time!  I gave Lon a choice, he could eat at Pig N' Pancake in Astoria or wait till we got to Warrenton and eat at Grandma's. He chose Grandma's! 

He loves the chocolate chip pancakes at Grandmas. I had eggs and bacon. It was all yummy.

It was raining. We did not think it would be fun to play on the beach, since the weather people said it would clear up by afternoon. I know we had limited time, but there was no sense being miserable!  We drove the 54 miles down to Tillamook to get some ice cream. Around 10:30am there were very few people there. We got great parking. The only big line was for the free samples, which Lon did not want anyway.  I would have liked Squeeky Cheese, but Lon was not interested in trying it. I think he would have liked it, but I did not want to wait that long to argue with him.

He played on the Loaf of Love Tour Bus.  He liked it but he did not play on it very long.  He shared very nicely when another family wanted to come by to take pictures of their kids in the bus.

Lon loves the put your head in the hole photos.  I could not talk him into being the cow.

How Lon got his face in the proper hole.  Hanging on for dear life

Look! They are packaging cheese! There were not many workers there packing cheese, just a few. They were putting the 25 pounds blocks in big plastic bags through  the shrink wrap

Of course, we got ice cream. Lon got Udderly Chocolate and I had Carmel Pecan Praline. Both were exactly what we wanted!

Traffic was picking up a little bit.  I almost got hit by a car going around a line of trucks and RVs. Geez! Everyone should know that there are RVs on the Coast in the summer! Take a little extra time. And RVs, once you get a line of cars behind you, find a wide spot and pull off for a few minutes! Everyone will win that way! 

By the time we got back to Warrenton the weather was PERFECT! We spotted a parachute. That was cool.  We stopped by to see Grandpa Bill, but no one was there. Lon thought it was funny, he said, it's okay Mom, they'll be back. Make yourself some coffee and sit on the porch.  I thought we would spend the time on the beach and give a call when we were done.

This lady walked across the road in front of us, then turned around and stared at us.  

THE BEACH!  A perfect day for the beach!

The Peter Iredale. So much has washed away since I first saw it! I doubt there will be anything left when Lon is my age.

A boy with his new light saber. We stopped by a garage sale for a quick look and Lon found a light saber for 45 cents. I let him buy it.

He wanted to get the beach stuff closer to him. I had him carry his bags.

Lon got mad when a little person picked up the star fish to play with it. He was not pleased. He told the little person that he was not to play with it, it was alive!  Let him be!

Playing! Water, sand and sun, Lon's perfect trifecta!!

I am thinking that maybe I will use this one or the next one for our Christmas card!

We did call Babcha and Grandpa Bill, but no one was home. We made our way home, just a little late. It was too hard to pull ourselves away from the beach. I forgot it was the Kenny Chesney concert at the Tacoma Dome, so traffic around there was tough, but once we got through that it was pretty easy. The carpool lane on 405 made it even easier once we got to it!  We got home around 6:45. We had a great time and we will do it again! Soon! Even though Daddy thinks we are nuts!

Camping!

This past weekend, we went camping. At the KOA in Leavenworth. It was very fun. We went with Chong, Michelle, Brian and Kayla.  KOA is great with the kids. There is alot to do.

I like this fruit sign.

Mark setting up our tent. I am so glad he can set it up by himself. I am not good at it at all!

Lon helping pump up our air mattress. He wanted to help, but he grew tired of it quickly.

Brian getting in on the action

Kayla is not about to be left out!

Our camp all set up!

Manly Camp Man!

Friday night's dinner was hotdogs! Yummy! Food tastes better outside. The kids ate well and were having lots of fun running around.

After dinner it was s'more time.  Yes, there is an extra boy. He was our neighbor. His name is Sebby. Lon and Brian had a great time playing with him. 

MMMM yummy s'mores!

Kicking back!

Lon was wired. Mark and I were amazed and slightly annoyed that Lon was so wired up! We wanted to sleep but Lon was full of energy, crankiness and just talking about everything. Later on I realized I had let him have some guarana to drink. WAY too much caffeine for the little boy.  Won't be doing that again.

The next morning, we had a wonderful breakfast at the kamp office. Lon ate the two pancakes and I had the egg part of it.  Yummy.  After breakfast we went to Smallwoods! We love Smallwoods. We all went to the petting zoo, and feed the animals. The goose, just out of the photo, kept trying to eat Mark's hair.

Lon feeding the Llamas.  Gentle animals.

Lon and Kayla feeding the Llama.  Lon was helping Kayla. He as being very nice to her.

The peacocks were screaming.  I love the pretty feathers!

Which one should we have for dinner?

Waiting on the cow ride. Waiting. Waiting Waiting

Lon and Katie the Smallwood's cat

I just like this photo

Lon found the tire swing.  It was lots of fun and helped with the waiting.  I had already purchased the 10 pounds of pie cherries I had on hold. Yet, there were another 9 pounds there.  These were sending out big signals for me to buy them. So I did. I knew I would regret NOT buying them. I took home just under 20 pounds of pie cherries. YUMMY !

FINALLY the cow ride! Lon went twice. He always enjoys the ride. He does his best to get the last car.

Cashmere for lunch.  We went to Brian's Pizza. It was good. Next time we will try a new place. It was pouring rain. Thunder and everything!  Chong, Mark, Lon and I walked over to Aplets and Cotlets. That was a fun place. 

Lon showing Brian an apple in the little stream in front of the Cider Mill. 

After the Cider Mill we drove down the Chumstick road. Kayla and Brian needed a nap and this was the best way for them to get that!  We got to the end of the Chumstick, we stopped at the Corner Fruit Stand. I saw this little chipmunk laying in the sun!

We got back to camp and had some fun playing. We went to the Hay Ride. It was fun. Sebby was able to come with us.  The Hay Ride was a fun, it went all over the camp ground.  The place is huge! 

Bowling for Ice Cream. I brought a camp ice cream maker, it has to be rolled around for about half an hour.  The ice cream was actually good. We roasted apricots over the fire and had ice cream with them. It was good!  We will do that again.

It was a good night. Lon decided that he was tired. Told us he was tired and crawled into his sleeping bag and went to sleep.  He is growing up.  The next morning it was time to pack up and go home. There was alot more to do that we did not get to, so we will be back. KOA camping  is fun.  I want check out other KOAs.

Empty camp.  Lon wanted to stay longer, days longer!